CVE-2018-11805

In Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.3, nefarious CF files can be configured to run system commands without any output or errors. With this, exploits can be injected in a number of scenarios. In addition to upgrading to SA 3.4.3, we recommend that users should only use update channels or 3rd party .cf files from trusted places.

Published: 2019-12-12 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-11805 is rated Moderate Risk (46.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.87%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-11805

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.07% 0.87% +0.80%
2 2026-06-02 0.03% 0.07% +0.04%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.03% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-11805

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 0.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-11805

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-11805

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2018-11805: 1 source package rows (spamassassin); 15 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 5. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-11805
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-11805 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (spamassassin), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-11805
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-11805
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-11805 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (spamassassin), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, disco, eoan, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-11805

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-11805

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache spamassassin < 3.4.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:spamassassin:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-11805

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00003.html
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/12/12/1 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/30/2
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/30/3
https://bz.apache.org/SpamAssassin/show_bug.cgi?id=7647 Permissions Required
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/0b5c73809d0690527341d940029f743807b70550050fd23ee869c5e5%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/2946b38caec47f7f6a79e8e03d2aa723794186e59a7dc6b5e76dfc18%40%3Cannounce.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/6f89f82a573ea616dce53ec67e52d963618a9f9ac71da5c1efdbd166%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/8534b60bae95ac3a8a4adb840f4ab26135f1c973ce197ff44439cbae%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/bc58907171c6585e5875a3ce86066d4956c218911cb74e3156de4433%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/c1f59b7e13b7f2c12f847f7d0dec2636df3cdbcaa6d8309007395ff4%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/d015dc5b4f24fd6777a85d068502a9c5d58d69d877ed5b0eb9a22cd5%40%3Cdev.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r217177f7de36deab36dab88db4b6448961122571176dd4b2c133d08e%40%3Cannounce.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2578c486552637bfedbe624940cc60d6463bd90044c887bdebb75e74%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3d32ebf97b1245b8237763444e911c4595d2ad5e34a1641840d8146f%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6729f3d3be754a06c39bb4f11c925a3631e8ea2b4c865546d755cb0a%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6729f3d3be754a06c39bb4f11c925a3631e8ea2b4c865546d755cb0a%40%3Cdev.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6729f3d3be754a06c39bb4f11c925a3631e8ea2b4c865546d755cb0a%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r71f789fcd6339144e3d4db8f4128def12c341e638bd0107a0b82a05b%40%3Cannounce.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rc4df9835fb2d7b5bb1202fca99a1de21a40acef055661d3a9e8ae781%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rc4df9835fb2d7b5bb1202fca99a1de21a40acef055661d3a9e8ae781%40%3Cdev.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rc4df9835fb2d7b5bb1202fca99a1de21a40acef055661d3a9e8ae781%40%3Cusers.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/12/msg00019.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Dec/27 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2019/q4/154 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/spamassassin/branches/3.4/build/announcements/3.4.3.txt Mailing List Vendor Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4237-1/
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4237-2/
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4584 Third Party Advisory
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